Final letters from 26th August – 12th September
Summary
Walton tells how Victor supports his incredible story by producing the
letters of communication between Felix and Safie. Victor gives Walton a warning and begs him learn from his mistakes. “Would you also create for yourself and the world a daemoniacal enemy? Peace,
peace! Learn my miseries and do not seek to increase your own.”
Walton is in no doubt of the truth of Victor’s tale, for they had seen at a
distance the horrendous image of the creature.
Victor is very ill and his quest to destroy the monster has squeezed all the
life out of him.
Walton is depressed by the fact that Victor would have been a great friend
and kindred spirit, but he is on the verge of death.
The crew of Walton’s ship is near mutiny. They wish to return to
warmer waters before the ice crushes the ship. Walton criticizes them for their lack of adventure, but he realizes that his goal will not be achieved.
Victor senses that the ship may head south, and he tells Walton that he
wishes to remain in order to destroy his creation.
Victor realizes that Walton cannot lead his men to their deaths. Soon he realizes that he is dying and he is concerned that the monster will live, “That he should live to be an instrument of mischief disturbs me: in other respects, this hour, when I momentarily expect my release, is the only happy one which I have enjoyed for several years. The forms of the beloved dead flit before me and I hasten to their arms. Farewell, Walton! Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition.”
The monster breaks into the ship’s cabin where Victor’s body lies.
The monster relates his story to Walton and why he began his reign of
terror. He realizes that he must stay in the frozen north until his death, for man will never accept him.
The monster points to Victor’s body and says, “He suffered not in the consummation of the deed. Oh! Not the ten-thousandth portion of the anguish that was mine during the lingering detail of its execution ''. My heart was poisoned with remorse. Think you that the groans of Clerval were music to my ears?” The monster goes on to say that after Clerval’s murder he returned to Switzerland heartbroken and overcome and he pitied Frankenstein, and he hated himself. Victor had denied the monster of his mate, so he denied Victor of his mate. This was sheer revenge. The monster’s diabolical design is now over as he stands over his last victim.
He promises that he will not harm Walton or his crew, and he leaves the ship
to live out the rest of his days in the land of ice. His parting quote is, “I shall collect my funeral pile and consume to ashes this miserable frame.”
The monster leaves the ship and disappears into the mist.
Interpretation
These final letters complete the frame of the novel.
As in the initial letters, these final ones are there to make Victor’s story
more convincing. Walton testifies that he has seen the letters in Victor’s possession and also the monster.
Walton is clearly a good narrator and is evidently surprised at the
eloquence of the monster.
With Victor dead, all the reader’s sympathy is thrown on the monster.
At least Victor will be with the spirits of his loved ones in the supernatural world.
The monster, however, has no one. We again are reminded of one of the books in the monster’s possession, Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, and the creature makes clear reference to this by saying, “But it is even so, the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil ''.. I am alone.” The monster realizes that even the devil has a host in purgatory with him. He will be utterly alone. He will cease to exist when he burns on his own funeral pyre.
With the death of Victor, the reason for his existence has ended. His sole purpose was to torment
his creator.
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